Ego Ferguson tackling new job with enthusiasm

Bears 2nd-round draft pick soaking up atmosphere at rookie minicamp and eager to learn nuances of being pro defensive tackle

May 16, 2014|By Dan Wiederer, Tribune reporter

By the time Ego Ferguson marched off the practice field Friday at the Payton Center, he acknowledged the obvious. Yes, his head still was spinning.

On May 9, Ferguson had become a second-round NFL draft choice. On Tuesday, he signed his first contract, a four-year deal worth up to $4.1 million. On Friday, he stampeded through his first Bears practice, an up-tempo workout on the first day of the three-day rookie camp.

And while an eagerness to absorb a voluminous amount of new information had the 6-foot-2, 315-pound defensive tackle dizzied, it was the look down at his white number 95 practice jersey that gave him a more euphoric light-headed feeling.

"Man, I don't want to take it off right now actually," Ferguson said. "It's a blessing. I keep telling everybody, this was my dream since I was little. And to be able to actually be in this Chicago Bear uniform, I can't even describe it."

Ferguson's arrival on the NFL stage comes in part because of his power, his quickness and his ability to be a run-stopping presence in the middle of the defense. But his decision to leave LSU after his junior season also was triggered by family reasons and a push to help provide for his mother, Brenda Bryant, and his five siblings.

Bryant, Ferguson said, has been out of work since last year when she suffered a serious back injury breaking up a fight while working at a juvenile detention center.

"She goes to therapy," Ferguson said. "But she hasn't been at work since."

In a quest to assist, Ferguson's work as a pro has begun and his grin Friday was equal parts excitement in the opportunity and amusement over the flood of new concepts being thrown his way.

"It's like when you're in that first year in high school. You're a little puppy, you're trying to learn," he said. "First year of college, it's the same thing. So I'm just trying to soak everything in."

Ferguson has plenty to prove to those who wonder whether the Bears reached in making him a Round 2 pick. His college resume includes only one sack, a third-and-21 stop during a 45-13 blowout of Kent State. He spent only one season as a starter at LSU and was hit with a suspension for the Outback Bowl after violating team rules. Ferguson said he was confronted head on by teams about that transgression during the pre-draft process.

"I just told them the truth," he noted.

Which was?

"I can't tell ya," he answered.

If skeptics see the Bears belief in Ferguson as a gamble, general manager Phil Emery sees it as a potential high-reward investment, a home run cut at upside with a sense Ferguson can be developed into a big-time playmaker in the right role under the right guidance.

Defensive coordinator Mel Tucker echoes that assessment.

"He's light on his feet," Tucker said. "He has a strong punch and a good anchor, really good balance and body control. He has some juice. He can explode and close in a short area. … There's tremendous upside. With good coaching, determination and grit and persistence on his part, he can reach his full potential here."

Coach Marc Trestman believes the Bears have all the resources to create a conducive learning environment for Ferguson, giving him an opportunity to work with veterans Jeremiah Ratliff, Stephen Paea and Nate Collins and partnering him with new defensive line coach Paul Pasqualoni, himself an enthusiastic teacher.

So with one pro practice out of the way, Ferguson must embrace his rookie anxiety while retaining a vision for what he can become.

"The sky's the limit for me," he said. "If I keep working the way I've been working and keep staying humble, I can do anything."

Added Trestman: "It's all part of just trying to get better every day and not trying to get too far ahead of ourselves. He's a guy who has a lot of enthusiasm and a smile on his face. He wants to work. It was evident today. It was a good start for him."